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Investors in the electric car maker assembled this Thursday to decide on a massive compensation package for the company's leader estimated at close to $1 trillion. If approved, this package would demonstrate shareholder trust that the billionaire can guide the car company into an era defined by artificial intelligence and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could confront the departure of a pioneering CEO who once made the company name interchangeable with electric vehicles.

Historic Targets and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the formidable objectives specified in the pay package presented at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could become the first-ever trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must steer Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is 800% of its existing market cap. Moreover, he will be tasked to deploy countless self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the massive revenue figures over the next decade.

Reward System

The primary objectives of the pay package, organized into twelve stages, outline a path for Tesla to achieve its massive market capitalization. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to benefit from an additional 12% of the corporation's shares. To be eligible, he must remain vested with the company for at least 7.5 years. Additionally, he must assist in creating a corporate transition roadmap for the enterprise he has managed for in excess of 20 years. The share grants provided by the new compensation plan, alongside shares assured in his previous compensation plan, would grant Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its 52-week high, at approximately $450 each share.

Ambitious Targets

During a ten-year period, Musk will be required to produce 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, distribute 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million bipedal machines, and deploy 1 million autonomous taxis in commercial service.

Musk will also be tasked to increase the firm to $400 billion in real profits for four straight quarters. Tesla's actual earnings for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the previous year.

In November, Musk's personal wealth was estimated at $460 billion, the highest in the planet, according to wealth indexes.

Restoring a Invalidated Deal

Shareholders are furthermore reviewing a proposal that would compensate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was overturned by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, valued at around $56 billion, was contested by a single stockholder who won his case. The Delaware judicial system dismissed Musk's compensation plan on two occasions. If shareholders approve the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be awarded the huge sum regardless of if Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the legal matter.

Subsequent to Musk's previous compensation plan was initially invalidated, he transferred Tesla's legal headquarters out of Delaware and into Texas. He followed suit with the rocket firm and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders once again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's often referred to as "judicial body" once again rejected one of the most substantial CEO pay deals in recent times. In the wake of that adverse judgment, Musk used online platforms to show frustration with the state and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware legislators have sought to curb with new laws.

In evaluating whether Musk had undue influence in being awarded that 2018 pay package, a noted legal scholar remarked that the court acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the e-commerce pioneer were not granted this sort of goal-oriented agreements.